A President's Note
Jan 16, 2010

--- Wedding Anniversary---

My girlfriend brought me a box of cake and a beautiful flower bouquet before the class. SuperMath parents escorting their children to class began asking me what the flower was for. I proudly replied “It’s to celebrate our 35th Anniversary!!”

When I got married, I really didn’t know what marriage meant; how to deal with different opinions, the importance of communication and the need to reach a healthy solution. I was totally ignorant about the relationship between a wife and husband. My parents didn’t have a happy marriage, especially my mother. My father did the three worst things a husband could do to his wife; alcohol, gambling and womanizing. In Japan, during my parents’ generation, divorce was not an option. Married couples stayed married for life. My mother hated my father. He was kind and a great father to me, but as a husband, my mother was not happy. Mom used to say, when my dad died, she would celebrate with the biggest fireworks you could find in Japan.

One winter, I received a call from my oldest brother, telling me that my father had just passed away and the funeral preparation was underway. I told him, I would be on the airplane the very next day. As soon as I hung up the phone, I cried loudly. No matter how bad he had been as husband, he was my dear father. It was almost midnight. My husband was still at work. He was supervising the emergency crew at the electric company. I walked to the bedroom where my oldest son, who was at 5th grade at that time, was sleeping. But I needed to talk to someone. I woke him up and said. “Tets, grandpa in Niigata just passed away.” Tets was rubbing his sleepy eyes and asked me. “Did grandma put on the fireworks?”

Because my parents’ marriage was not a good marriage, I had a difficult time relating to a successful marriage. The relationship between a husband and wife is not work like a regular friendship. There is a man with his ego and a woman with her ego. There is always a power struggle. There are always differences. There are constant arguments. In the Japanese culture, people do not talk about their marriage problems openly, therefore discussing issues and problems are difficult. SuperMath children and the families are the ones who taught me the importance of marriage and family. When we work very hard to succeed in marriage, the efforts are rewarded and manifests itself in many ways. It can be seen in the faces of the children, who are beaming with joy, full of love and confidence. Some day in the future, the parents’ empty nest will be awaiting them with a nice home-cooked meal and welcoming them with open arms; Always.